What's that typing sound in the audio feed from my mixer?
June 26, 2015 10:27 AM   Subscribe

Why was I hearing random, constant clicks when I ran audio thru my Mackie PROFX8 8-Channel Mixer into my Macbook Pro? The clicks sounded very much like the sound of someone pecking at a typewriter in the distance. The feed left the mixer at the Main Right/Main Left Balanced outputs thru a cable that then combined both channels into a single unbalanced stereo mini. Unorthodox, granted, but I've never encountered that kind of "typing" noise before. Any advice on what was causing it and how to avoid it?
posted by Jamesonian to Media & Arts (10 answers total)
 
Could it be the switching power supply?. You may need to check your ground.
posted by Zedcaster at 10:36 AM on June 26, 2015


Response by poster: Thanks for the response. I suspect that you're correct about it being the ground but the noise I was hearing was dramatically different than that on your linked page. That linked audio clearly sounded electronic while mine sounded– literally– like the sound of a typewriter as heard from across an empty room, i.e. soft and with just a bit of room echo. And far more incidental that your audio. Mine was click... clickclick... click...clickclickclick... totally random and would vanish for as long as 10-15 seconds before returning.
posted by Jamesonian at 10:45 AM on June 26, 2015


Try a power conditioner, you should be able to find a used Furman on craigslist for around $50.
posted by rhizome at 11:20 AM on June 26, 2015


Is there a reason you're not using the USB interface built into the mixer to connect to the MBP? Unless Mackie used an extraordinarily bad DAC, that will probably give you better results and should help avoid power-related issues.
posted by zachlipton at 11:29 AM on June 26, 2015


Perhaps it's the harddrive. Can you check disk activity to correlate the sound?
posted by Zedcaster at 11:31 AM on June 26, 2015


Are you using a DAW? You may need to adjust the audio buffer. I get clicks like that in Logic when my buffer is too small.
posted by monospace at 11:32 AM on June 26, 2015


FWIW, I get a clicking sound when my cellphone is within 12 inches of my Saffire Pro.
posted by kuanes at 2:30 PM on June 26, 2015


Response by poster: @zachlipton Yes. The level from the USB is not routed thru the Master and can only be adjusted locally at each pot.
posted by Jamesonian at 3:01 PM on June 26, 2015


I'm voting for one of the wires on either the input side, or the run to your computer acting as an antenna and picking up interference, like what often happens with phono preamps.

Have you tested to see if this shows up with the USB built in to the mixer, even though that doesn't work how you like?
posted by emptythought at 9:27 PM on June 26, 2015


Response by poster: @emptythought I have used the USB output several times and did not notice the noise, nor did I notice it earlier in the day– when I had my iPhone in my pocket. It did seem to appear when my iPhone was close to it! We may have a theory here...
posted by Jamesonian at 6:37 PM on June 27, 2015


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